Dell acknowledges security hole in new laptops

Major U.S. computer company Dell Inc [DI.UL] said on Monday a security hole exists in some of its recently shipped laptops that could make it easy for hackers to access users’ private data. A pre-installed program on some newly purchased Dell laptops that can only be removed manually by consumers makes them vulnerable to cyber intrusions that may allow hackers to read encrypted messages and redirect browser traffic to spoofs of real websites such as Google or those belonging to a bank, among other attacks.

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EU antitrust chief says Apple, Google cases show no U.S. bias

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe's antitrust chief dismissed on Friday accusations of anti-U.S. bias over her decision to go after Google for abusing its Internet search dominance and Apple over an Irish tax deal, saying such talk was a fallacy

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EU launches inquiry into web companies’ online behavior

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission on Thursday launched an inquiry into the behavior of online companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon to try to gauge whether there is a need to regulate the web. It is not clear whether the inquiry will lead to any regulation of the Internet in the European Union, but it provides more evidence that mainly U.S

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EU to investigate transparency of Internet search results: document

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Internet platforms such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! will be the subject of a widespread inquiry by European regulators to determine whether they are transparent enough in how they display search results. In a draft of the Commission's strategy for creating a digital single market, seen by Reuters, it says it will “carry out a comprehensive investigation and consultation on the role of platforms, including the growth of the sharing economy.” The investigation, expected to be carried out next year, will look into the transparency of search results – involving paid for links and advertisements – and how platforms use the information they acquire

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Battle for African Internet users stirs freedom fears

By Joe Brock JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Google and Facebook are at the forefront of a scramble to win over new African Internet users, offering freebies they say give a leg-up to the poor but which critics argue is a plan to lock in customers on a continent of 1 billion people.

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